4 Key Features of Academic Writing # 2– Use Objective Language 學術寫作四大要訣之二：客觀
撰寫學術論文必須遵守某些特定風格和技巧的規範，雖然這些規範不至於讓創作學者寫得縛手縛腳，但某些經濟的寫作方式和表達法的限制向來被視為奉行不悖的圭臬。本專欄為撰寫學術論文的四大要訣，每項要訣都會刊登在TPS 粉絲頁，最後集結於 TPS 學術電子報。
Academic writers must conform to certain expectations about writing style and techniques. The rules are not so tight as to place a creative scholar in a straitjacket. However, certain economies of writing and constraints on expression are generally considered de rigueur. Following are four of the principal guidelines for writers of academic papers. Each part in the series will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.
2nd Writing Guideline – Use Objective Language
寫作要訣第二條：客觀
The opposite of objective language is subjective language. The first places emphasis on the topic of a paper. The second steals some of the emphasis and places it on the writer. An example of subjective writing is the following: “I closed the cage door and accidentally bumped the water dish, spilling the metered water.” The incident is expressed better without a writer reference: “The closing door bumped the water dish, spilling some water and spoiling the record.” Nothing is lost in the second telling. The water was spilled and the reader knows exactly who spilled it.
用字客觀的相反就是用字主觀。用字客觀就能強調出論文的主旨，用字主觀則減損了論文主旨的力道，反而凸顯作者本身。先舉個用字主觀的例子：「我正把籠子的門關上時，不小心碰倒了水盤，水濺了出來。」這樣的事件若不提及作者可以表達得更清楚：「正關上的門碰倒了水盤，濺出的水弄髒了紀錄。」第二種寫法保留了所有訊息，水濺了出來，而且讀者清楚知道是誰造成的。
So one reason to use objective language is to remove the writer from a reader’s train of thought. A reader can see on a title page the name of the person who authored a paper, and that’s sufficient credit. Objective language moves the narrative to a generally higher plain, where facts and clinical reportage reign. It is a level of discourse ruled by ordered thoughts and dispassionate explanation. Personal pronouns, opinions and other personal references spoil such prose and deflect the focus. Readers simply do not want to be interrupted by jarring allusions to self.
使用客觀文字的原因之一是將作者從讀者的思緒抽離。讀者可從論文標題頁知道作者的名字，這樣的信譽就足夠了。用字客觀能將論述提升到更高的層次，讓事實與觀察報導般的論述來主導，依賴的是有條理的思路和情感中立不偏私的解釋。人稱代名詞、個人意見、其他人的引述會破壞這樣的行文，偏離了焦點，讀者就是不想被東一句、西一句出自個人的典故震得頭昏腦脹。
Therefore, impersonal pronouns like “this” and “that” and “it” steadily carry a reader to a conclusion. Overall project references are impersonal as well—“the research,” for example, instead of “my research.” This writing style produces clean content that leads a reader unerringly from introduction to conclusion. This does not suggest that identifying characteristics of a writer be totally absent from a paper. But be careful. The word choices an author makes must, above all else, reflect the persona of a serious researcher whose sole intent is to nail his thesis to the wall.
所以「這」、「那」、「它」一類的不定代名詞能平穩地引導讀者讀至結論。整個研究的指稱也是不定的，例如要寫成「本研究」而非「我的研究」。這樣的寫作風格能創造出乾淨的內容，從前言到結論正確地引導讀者。但這並不表示論文中完全不能出現指涉作者特質的文字，只是要小心，作者選擇的字務必要能反映出認真做學的個性，唯一的意圖就是要把這篇論文從裡到外清楚地表達出來。
Academic writers must conform to certain expectations about writing style and techniques. The rules are not so tight as to place a creative scholar in a straitjacket. However, certain economies of writing and constraints on expression are generally considered de rigueur. Following are four of the principal guidelines for writers of academic papers. Each part in the series will be presented on the TPS Fan page before being compiled.
2nd Writing Guideline – Use Objective Language
寫作要訣第二條：客觀
The opposite of objective language is subjective language. The first places emphasis on the topic of a paper. The second steals some of the emphasis and places it on the writer. An example of subjective writing is the following: “I closed the cage door and accidentally bumped the water dish, spilling the metered water.” The incident is expressed better without a writer reference: “The closing door bumped the water dish, spilling some water and spoiling the record.” Nothing is lost in the second telling. The water was spilled and the reader knows exactly who spilled it.
用字客觀的相反就是用字主觀。用字客觀就能強調出論文的主旨，用字主觀則減損了論文主旨的力道，反而凸顯作者本身。先舉個用字主觀的例子：「我正把籠子的門關上時，不小心碰倒了水盤，水濺了出來。」這樣的事件若不提及作者可以表達得更清楚：「正關上的門碰倒了水盤，濺出的水弄髒了紀錄。」第二種寫法保留了所有訊息，水濺了出來，而且讀者清楚知道是誰造成的。
So one reason to use objective language is to remove the writer from a reader’s train of thought. A reader can see on a title page the name of the person who authored a paper, and that’s sufficient credit. Objective language moves the narrative to a generally higher plain, where facts and clinical reportage reign. It is a level of discourse ruled by ordered thoughts and dispassionate explanation. Personal pronouns, opinions and other personal references spoil such prose and deflect the focus. Readers simply do not want to be interrupted by jarring allusions to self.
使用客觀文字的原因之一是將作者從讀者的思緒抽離。讀者可從論文標題頁知道作者的名字，這樣的信譽就足夠了。用字客觀能將論述提升到更高的層次，讓事實與觀察報導般的論述來主導，依賴的是有條理的思路和情感中立不偏私的解釋。人稱代名詞、個人意見、其他人的引述會破壞這樣的行文，偏離了焦點，讀者就是不想被東一句、西一句出自個人的典故震得頭昏腦脹。
Therefore, impersonal pronouns like “this” and “that” and “it” steadily carry a reader to a conclusion. Overall project references are impersonal as well—“the research,” for example, instead of “my research.” This writing style produces clean content that leads a reader unerringly from introduction to conclusion. This does not suggest that identifying characteristics of a writer be totally absent from a paper. But be careful. The word choices an author makes must, above all else, reflect the persona of a serious researcher whose sole intent is to nail his thesis to the wall.
所以「這」、「那」、「它」一類的不定代名詞能平穩地引導讀者讀至結論。整個研究的指稱也是不定的，例如要寫成「本研究」而非「我的研究」。這樣的寫作風格能創造出乾淨的內容，從前言到結論正確地引導讀者。但這並不表示論文中完全不能出現指涉作者特質的文字，只是要小心，作者選擇的字務必要能反映出認真做學的個性，唯一的意圖就是要把這篇論文從裡到外清楚地表達出來。
Posted at 2014-04-21 22:06:23
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